Posted by Jessica
on
3 February 2012
Every February, we consumers are reminded in many not-so-subtle ways that the rose is the flower of romance, and that we should be buying roses, giving roses, and wearing roses in all their forms. I happen to believe that rose fragrance is a perfect choice for any day of the year, not just Valentine’s Day, but I’ve decided to wear and review some recent and new rose releases all the same. One is a 2011 launch from the classic house of Caron, and the other is the latest offering from A Dozen Roses, a new niche collection that was itself founded in 2011.
Caron’s Délire de Roses Eau de Parfum is described as “an exquisite concoction…redolent of a spring garden in full bloom,” with top notes of blended rose petals and lotus flowers, a heart of lily of the valley and rosebush leaves, and a base of jasmine and lychee. It opens with a sheer cluster of rosebuds and lily of the valley, and it eventually dries down to a soft, fruity rose that stays close to the skin. Between these two floral phases, the fragrance’s mid-development is warmed by an unexpected salty-amber aquatic note. Since Délire de Roses has a transparent feeling and light staying power, it would work well as a rose fragrance for warmer weather. Other than that salt-breeze heart, it reminds me a bit of Crabtree & Evelyn’s Evelyn (now Evelyn Rose), one of my favorites during the early 1990s.
Overall, Délire de Roses is pretty and girlish and bright…
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Posted by Jessica
on
20 January 2012
Diptyque was one of the first “niche” fragrance houses to edge its way into my consciousness, and I still remember the day I purchased my first bottle of L’Ombre dans L’Eau at a boutique in Philadelphia. (That was eight years ago, and I still wear L’Ombre every summer.) More recently, I wished aloud that Diptyque would create a rose-centered fragrance, and my request has been noted by the fragrance gods and goddesses: Diptyque’s newest release is Eau Rose, “a totally new fragrance that pays tribute to the queen of flowers, the rose,” with notes of bergamot, blackcurrant, lychee, hedione, geranium, Turkish rose, cedar, musk, and honey.
I must say that Eau Rose’s label and box, with their pink-accented illustrations of trellis-climbing roses, are among the prettiest designs I’ve seen in a long time. They also raised my expectations before I had even smelled the fragrance itself. So, what did I think? According to the description on the Diptyque website, Eau Rose is composed to “to celebrate the multiple aromas of the flower in its natural state, as it blossoms over time.” That works for me. Eau Rose begins on a fresh-flower note, with the citrus and black currant giving it a certain brightness while never translating as an obviously “fruity-floral” blend…
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Posted by Angela
on
12 December 2011
In one of my favorite reviews in Perfumes: The A-Z Guide, Luca Turin tells of seeing a busty woman on the London Underground wearing a tee shirt that read “All this and brains too.” He compares that “vulgar-but-wily combination” to Lancôme Trésor.
Trésor’s apricot-tinged rose is the pulchritude, and the vetiver is the intellect. I get it. But to me the rose is more Dinah Shore than Jayne Mansfield, and the vetiver doesn’t quite rate Mensa. That’s o.k. Trésor is entering its third decade not because it’s a sensual shock, but because it’s a crowd pleaser…
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Posted by Angela
on
21 November 2011
When I choose a wine, I often take one of two approaches. I’ll select a wine that complements dinner, but doesn’t match it — a spicy Gewürztraminer or honeyed Chenin Blanc for Thai food, for instance. Or, I’ll choose a wine that blends with dinner — for example, a barely oaked Chardonnay with roast chicken. I tend to do the same thing when I choose the day’s perfume. On a rainy day like today with leaf rot in the streets, I might go for the complement and choose a warm, soft fragrance. Flower by Kenzo Oriental, maybe. But if I were going to choose a scent that feels like today in all its chilled autumn magnificence, it would be L’Artisan Parfumeur Voleur de Roses.
Michel Almairac created Voleur de Roses (French for “rose thief”) in 1993. The L’Artisan Parfumeur website lists its notes simply as patchouli, rose, and plum. That sounds right to me. Voleur de Roses smells like a Syrah-soaked rose washed over with wet patchouli, moldering wood, and cold plum. The wet has an almost metallic edge, like the ocean. The fragrance’s patchouli is one of its main features, so if you don’t like patchouli, steer clear…
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Posted by Robin
on
26 July 2011
Oh my goodness! This reminds me of the Damask family of rose. The truest rose scent known comes from this rose, which is native to Syria. This is truest to a rose. But I can still smell the difference between a real rose, with its truer, more present rose scent, and a reproduced scent.
— Peter Kukielski of the New York Botanic Garden’s Peggy Rockefeller Rose Garden, on Prada Infusion de Rose. Read more at Vain Glorious | Rosy Outlook at the New York Times. Hat tip to Jessica!
